Bill Text: NY A00472 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits employer retaliation against employees in the financial services industry.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to labor [A00472 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A00472-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           472
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     January 9, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. ABINANTI, SKOUFIS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
          A. ARROYO, COOK, PERRY -- read once and referred to the  Committee  on
          Labor
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  labor  law, in relation to prohibiting employer
          retaliation against employees in the financial services industry
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 740 of the labor law is amended by
     2  adding a new paragraph (h) to read as follows:
     3    (h) "Financial institution" means:
     4    (i) an insured bank (as defined in section 3(h) of the Federal Deposit
     5  Insurance  Act  (12  U.S.C.  1813(h))), or a bank chartered by any state
     6  which conducts business in the state of New York;
     7    (ii) a commercial bank or trust company;
     8    (iii) a private banker;
     9    (iv) an agency or branch of a foreign bank in the United States;
    10    (v) any credit union;
    11    (vi) a thrift institution;
    12    (vii) a broker or dealer registered with the Securities  and  Exchange
    13  Commission  under  the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et
    14  seq.);
    15    (viii) a broker or dealer in securities or commodities;
    16    (ix) an investment banker or investment company;
    17    (x) a currency exchange;
    18    (xi) an issuer, redeemer, or cashier  of  traveler's  checks,  checks,
    19  money orders, or similar instruments;
    20    (xii) an operator of a credit card system;
    21    (xiii) an insurance company;
    22    (xiv) a dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels;
    23    (xv) a pawnbroker;
    24    (xvi) a loan or finance company;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03287-01-7
        A. 472                              2
     1    (xvii) a travel agency;
     2    (xviii)  a licensed sender of money or any other person who engages as
     3  a business in the  transmission  of  funds,  including  any  person  who
     4  engages  as  a  business  in  an  informal  money transfer system or any
     5  network of people who engage in a business in facilitating the  transfer
     6  of  money  domestically  or  internationally outside of the conventional
     7  financial institutions system;
     8    (xix) a telegraph company;
     9    (xx) a  business  engaged  in  vehicle  sales,  including  automobile,
    10  airplane, and boat sales;
    11    (xxi) persons involved in real estate closings and settlements;
    12    (xxii) the United States Postal Service;
    13    (xxiii)  an  agency  of  the United States government or of a state or
    14  local government carrying out a duty or power of a business described in
    15  this paragraph;
    16    (xxiv) an Indian casino or other gaming operation;
    17    (xxv) any business or agency which engages in any activity  which  the
    18  superintendent  of  the  department of financial services determines, by
    19  regulation, to be an activity which is similar  to,  related  to,  or  a
    20  substitute  for  any  activity  in  which any business described in this
    21  paragraph is authorized to engage; or
    22    (xxvi) any other business designated  by  the  superintendent  of  the
    23  department  of  financial  services  whose cash transactions have a high
    24  degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.
    25    § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 740 of the  labor  law,
    26  as  amended  by  chapter  442 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
    27  follows:
    28    (a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or to a public
    29  body an activity,  policy  or  practice  of  the  employer  that  is  in
    30  violation  of  law,  rule  or regulation (i) which violation creates and
    31  presents a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safe-
    32  ty[, or]; (ii) which constitutes  health  care  fraud;  or  (iii)  which
    33  constitutes  a violation of the federal or state securities laws, finan-
    34  cial or accounting fraud, or misappropriation or misuse of the funds  of
    35  a  financial institution, a hedge fund or private equity firm, or of the
    36  clients or customers of such organizations;
    37    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.